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Why did the Columbine shooting happen?

The Sheriff's report and the author's theory

The Denver Post released some unofficial information provided by the
sheriff's department. Some conclusions of the investigation, which took almost
one year, were:

Klebold and Harris worked alone.

The perpetrators did not target specific groups. Police say that
their attack was "not about killing jocks or black people or
Christians...it was about killing everybody."

Their main goal was to kill more that 450 students with two large
propane bombs in the cafeteria. Fortunately, they did not explode.
1

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department issued its report in
mid-2000-MAY. It is in CD-ROM format and includes nearly 700 pages of
text, audio files and video clips. Officials conducted about 5,000
interviews of witnesses, and analyzed over 10,000 pieces of evidence.

The "trenchcoat mafia" is a "loose, social
affiliation of former and current Columbine High School students with no
formal organization structure, leadership or purpose such as that
typically found in traditional juvenile street gangs." Harris and
Klebold "had a few close associates in the TCM, but overall were not
described as having any particular influence or leadership roles within
the Trench Coat Mafia."

Apparently the attack was originally planned for 1999-APR-19, on the
fourth anniversary of the Oklahoma City, OK bombing and the sixth anniversary of
the mass deaths at Waco TX.

Some of the material deals with victim Cassie Bernall. She had been
reported in various media as having been in the library studying her
Bible. When Eric Harris burst into the room, he asked her if she believed
in God. She clasped her hands in prayer, closed her eyes and said "yes."
The gunman murdered her at this point. 2 In fact, she was studying for a
Shakespeare exam at the time. Harris went to her library table, "where
he bent down and saw two frightened girls. He slapped the table top
twice, said 'Peek-a-boo,'and fired, killing Cassie Bernall." He
did not ask her about her belief in God; she did not say anything. At
another table, Valeen Schnurr, had been critically hurt by Klebold. She
began to cry, 'Oh God, help me.' "Klebold...came back
and taunted her about her belief in God. He then walked away."
3 More details

Two scenarios emerge repeatedly from an analysis of recent school shootings:

Either the perpetrator(s) were mentally disturbed at the time of the
shooting, or

the perpetrator(s) were part of a group who had been bullied,
ridiculed, rejected, and marginalized by the social elite among the
student bodies. They finally cracked and discharged their hatred in a
hail of bullets.

Dan Savage of "the Stranger.com" wrote a shocking article
describing his personal experiences and observations while he went to high
school. 4Savage was apparently targeted as a geek by fellow students. Some of his
comments are:

"...in none of my [3] high schools did I for a moment feel safe. High school
was terrifying, and it was the casual cruelty of the popular kids -- the jocks and the
princesses -- that made it hell."

"...I lived in fear of the small slights and public humiliations used to
reinforce the rigid high school caste system: poor girls were sluts, soft boys were fags.
And at each of my schools, there were students who lived in daily fear of physical
violence."

"I was f--ked with enough to spend four years fantasizing about blowing up my
high school and everyone in it."

Fortunately, he never acted out his fantasies.

The same rage that Savage felt is evident in the suicide note left by one of
the perpetrators at Littleton -- Eric Harris. He clearly regarded himself as a
victim:

"By now, it's over. If you are reading this, my mission is
complete.... Your children who have ridiculed me, who have chosen not to accept me, who
have treated me like I am not worth their time are dead. THEY ARE F--KING DEAD...."

"Surely you will try to blame it on the clothes I wear, the music I listen to,
or the way I choose to present myself, but no. Do not hide behind my choices. You need to
face the fact that this comes as a result of YOUR CHOICES."

"Parents and teachers, you f--ked up. You have taught these kids to not accept
what is different. YOU ARE IN THE WRONG. I have taken their lives and my own -- but it was
your doing. Teachers, parents, LET THIS MASSACRE BE ON YOUR SHOULDERS UNTIL THE DAY YOU
DIE." 4,5

It is our belief that the root motivation for most school shootings is caused
by:

A general lack of respect for others, and

A lack of tolerance of minorities.

Some statements on the Internet support this theory:

Joy Long, Webmistress of the Warners Community
website wrote: "We
can begin by bringing respect back into our own homes, not only kids having respect for
their parents, but parents having respect for their kids. Open your eyes and your
hearts, listen to what is not being said. Above all, kids must have respect for each
other. Just because someone dresses different, looks different, acts different or
talks different, is not a reason to ridicule them. Before you say or do something that
will hurt another person, stop for a minute to put yourself in their place and feel what
they will feel as a result of what you are about to do or say." 6

A spokesperson for the Rocky Mountain Conference
Website of the United
Methodist Church commented, in part: "Bishop Swenson, arriving in Denver
only hours after the shooting, quickly learned that the gunmen had targeted minorities and
'jocks, and that the incident occurred on Hitler's birthday. 'All of the issues of race
and violence immediately come forth. Hate is the visible cause of this tragedy, but the
hidden cause is fear. One of our pastors talked with families with kids involved, and he
said, 'The word is these kids were outcasts. They didn't like anyone and no one liked
them. Our youth have talked at church about how we treat each other....' My prayer is for
the day when there are no outcasts, when we can move beyond our barriers and the cliques
and groups. We pray for a time when all are insiders, when everyone knows they are
included, welcomed- even those out of the mainstream and on the margins. Maybe then, if we
can reach out to the margin and welcome every child of God as a child of God, maybe then
we can put an end to violence and hate.' " 7

Dr. Fred Mathews, an expert on youth violence at Central Toronto
Youth Services commented that the real issue is not about Goths or
Pagans. It is "about adults doing little to help those ostracized students, allowing them to
grow more and more angry and bitter on the sidelines, while failing to hear or act on the
warnings from the students who see danger." Unless we break the
cycle of rage, school violence will continue. 8

Barry Lynn is a spokesperson for Americans United for the
Separation of Church and State. In 2000-APR, he warned of the
dangers of prayer and Christian displays in the classroom. He said:
"Evidence indicates that the two students who killed their
peers...felt alienated and ostracized. We know from experience that
school-sponsored religious displays and worship invariably make some
students feel like second-class citizens."